Top 5: Food Flops

Have you ever gone to a restaurant with high expectations and left feeling disappointed? We all have. Here are my top five dishes from great places that ended up being real head-scratchers.

5. Fish at Feast
I dined with a group of four the other night at Feast. It was my first Feast experience, and needless to say, I was eagerly anticipating the dinner. I ordered a dish of pork cheeks, which was delicious. But my friend's barracuda and his wife's fish and scallop pie were both disappointing. Each dish was bland, and for lack of a better adjective--boring. We also split an appetizer of scallops. The scallops were lacking that wonderful sweetness, and the portion, even by appetizer standards, was pretty puny.

Noe.

4. Short Ribs at Noe
I love me some short ribs. On a recent date night, I spotted some 12-hour-braised bison short ribs on Noe's menu. The description sounded fabulous, but it was just not meant to be. What came out was tender, but fatty, and tasted very run-of-the-mill. At $27, I was looking for better than that.

3. Chocolate Cake at Perry's
I'm a huge fan of Perry's, just not their chocolate cake. My dessert tasted like a bad piece of fudge. I hate fudge, and certainly don't want my cake having the taste and texture of it. But have no fear, good people of Perry's. I'd still give up my right testicle for a year's supply of that signature pork chop. Just hold the cake.

2. Burgers at Little Big's
I'll admit it -- I was caught up in the Caswell hype. But a trip to Little Big's hand me wondering when the last time was that Mr. Caswell paid a visit to his little Montrose burger joint. First, the good news--the fries were some of the best in the city. The bad news--damn, those burgers were average. I ordered the chicken filet, pulled pork, and beef sliders. All were under-seasoned. The chicken was the best of the three, but still nothing about any of them stood out. The pulled pork was dry and forgettable.

1. Grilled Chicken Sandwich at Chick-Fil-A
Hey, just because it's a fast food chain, doesn't mean I can't have high expectations. Chick-Fil-A does many things well, but the grilled chicken sandwich is not one of them. It's dry, tasteless, and has a weird, unappealing texture that makes you want to send the entire sandwich back, order the standard fried delight, and call it a day.

As a former chef under Caswell let me first say that he is a great chef, and that in the beginning when they were on the Reef menu they were great. I know because I made them including the sauce. It's been some time since I worked with BC and I had never eaten at Little Bigs, because it didn't exist when I did. Recently I decided to visit LB's with some friends, and see how it was going. I was shocked when I ate there. The sliders were not anything like I remembered them. I use to eat at least two a shift. The sauce was also nothing like I remembered it to be. It's hard when a chef is doing a lot to maintain everything, and BC is surely doing a lot. That being said there is no excuse for that kind of food. Especially from a place affiliated with someone that can do, and does do so much better. It's still better food than that chinese shit hole use to pump out though. BC will fix these issues thats just the kind of chef he is.

definitely agree on little big's. great french fries, miserable hamburger sliders. in the instances i've gone it's always been the same thing that was wrong, too; absolutely no seasoning at all! it was like they were trying for a low sodium menu or something. i can eat alot of things, but you leave out the salt, you've lost me.

I agree on the Little Bigs sliders missing the mark, but I don't like sliders of any sort. Sliders are a bad fad that I'm hoping dies out sooner than later. You are right... the only thing worth ordering at Little Bigs are the fries, and that alone doesn't merit a visit.

... totally disagree with the Lil' Bigs comment. - Living 3 blocks away, I eat there with friends at least twice a week and it is never disappointing. Pulled pork AWESOME. The chicken, I have friends order JUST those... and I often get the fourth "bean" slider. A gem that no one gets and always good.

... that with the frozen sangria, and the best fries in town, amazing outdoor dining and people watching. One of the best treats in the city.